The message I delivered to Tapestry yesterday was the “Love All” section of Advent Conspiracy (the movement we participate in with other churches during Advent). I focused on being more concerned with the “Who” of love rather than the “How.” Specifically not just working out details of how we can love people that are difficult for us to love or people that we have forgotten to love, but instead to focus on Christ loving through us and allowing Him to direct. His “Who” can, and will, then direct us to love in ways that we can never do on our own. When we focus on “Who”, the responsibility is on Christ, with us having the responsibility to say “yes” to what He directs and empowers. When we focus on “How” all the responsibility is on us. ‘Who” leads us to work with God, we are responding to what He is already doing. “How” puts the initiative and direction in our hands instead of His.
Anyhow, I stopped into Emy J’s today for some office hours and while trying to finish “Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace” by James B. Torrance I ran across this line, which I would have used yesterday if I had seen it previously. It is:
The question of how is not unimportant, but we must always seek answers in terms of who.
p. 93.
ARGH! It drives me nuts when I discover the perfect way to say something the day after I needed to say it.
